Four Lions tells the story of a group of British jihadists who push their abstract dreams of glory to the breaking point.
This is the type of movie that unless it is done right can be pushing a very sensitive subject. When you make a movie about four people who want to be suicide bombers I think you can do it two ways. One, you can make it a very serious movie that takes inside the culture and mindset of these people and give an unseen look into their world. Two, make it a comedy about these characters that want to be jihadists but are just to stupid to make anything work. The one thing that wont work is combining the two.
The movie starts out as a comedy, and it has some pretty funny moments. While in a terrorist training camp, two of the members try to take down an American spy plane with a rocket launcher, they accidentally shoot backwards and take out a terrorist camp. It seems like everything they do is a mistake, their leader seems to be the only one capable of doing things right.
As the movie progresses though it starts to get a little more serious, but you still think that it will all turn out with a funny ending because these guys never seem to get things right. There is a moment in the movie where one of the character accidentally kills himself, and it is supposed to be funny (think Tropic Thunder), but you realize this is a character I actual like and it isn't funny how he dies. From there on out it continues to push a subject that really isn't funny. When you make jokes about suicide bomber killing people you have crossed a line.
There is one character in this movie that I think they delve far enough into his character that when he completes his suicide mission you don't feel like it was all for nothing. That being said the movie crosses some touchy subjects and isn't really funny enough to make it worth it.
When to Watch Rating: While Plunging Your Head in Boiling Water
Now Playing in Select Theaters
Making the Movie Review - HERE
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